Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Re-entry's a bitch when you're two...

I knew it was too good to be true. We got home Tuesday night around 8ish, just at Cheeky's bed time. We vacuumed the house, and did a quick dash to the wine store around the corner (Eemah needs her wine when parenting solo!) We came home, did a quick bath, and she was CLIMBING into her crib shortly after. Life was good.

Thursday am, she was thrilled as a bug on a rug, as I used the Ergo and a public bus to get her to daycare, as it was raining cats and dogs, and the stroller for a mile long walk in the rain is no fun for anyone. I was slightly worried, as she tends to REALLY love the Ergo, and has a hard time when I take her OUT. BUT... "Tia Anna" was there, so all was well, as she couldn't get OUT fast enough.

I pick her up from daycare, she happily goes in the Ergo, and then we get home. She doesn't want to come out. At all. So I keep her in a bit, and then use every distraction method in the book, and FINALLY, "Signing Time" on the computer allows her to come out of the beloved Ergo. Now maybe I should clarify. Not a complete "Signing Time," mind you. A one MINUTE song called: "Nice to Meet you." Over, and over, and over. After, oh, 20 minutes of "Nice to Meet You," I was SO done. And besides, dinner was ready. She did NOT want Signing Time to end, and threw a minor fit. Now even having done the "OK, Cheeky, we'll do 3 more times, and then it's time to say bye-bye to "Signing Time," (which usually works well when she's not a mess), she wailed, protested, reached arms out to hit, etc. You know, a wild 2 year old tantrum. So then I get SOME dinner in her, and then it's time for bath. She wanted NONE of that, so I did the stupidest thing EVER. I offered her the elixir of happiness - Bubbles! In the bath! WOAH! How much fun was THAT! Massive amounts of fun. Until, you know, it was over. Tantrum #2 for the evening. Despite distractions, hugs, and routine, she was OVER this whole "do what Eemah says thing." I finally get her to her room, and we restore some of the bedtime routine, and she willingly goes to bed. But just as I leave the room, however, she catches on, and starts whining/fussing. My heart rate/blood pressure elevate, and I simply ride it out. It takes her 40 minutes to settle. I've never ridden it out solo before, Narda's always been there to remind me that she's FINE. Really. She's just a vocal girl. And she is - it's never an escalated cry, because if it is, we go to her. But she whines/fusses/cries as a way to soothe herself to sleep. And it kills me.

But we all survived, and she has slowly been restoring to normal, as it were. It DOES feel, however, that she totally into the "terrible twos" full speed ahead - tantrums, NOT listening, "NO!," whining, etc. If it's "on the list" as being part of the terrible twos? Malka's doing it. And I actually caught myself yelling at her for the first time, using a swear word. Yesterday am, she took her insane pills, and was pushing all of MY buttons, and I finally let lose and said: "do you EVER fucking keep still!" And because Malka has rarely, if ever seen me yell directly AT her, she thought it was the funniest thing ever, and just laughed.

It's a good thing she's so damn cute and asks for snuggles so much, because that can balance out the hard stuff any day.We had a great time in DC, seeing our friends over at AdProb, and getting some good time in with mommy. Pictures are slowly coming into flickr, so be sure to check out naked babies in a tub, chapter 5. Cait said to me, mid bath: "Do you think the girls will find it odd when they are 14 and we want tub pictures?"

We also saw some elephants peeing at the zoo. Malka thought that was THE funniest thing ever. She really liked the hippos, too. We went with Jenny, Ezra and Elsie, who went forward facing in her moby for the first time and LOVED it. It was REALLY cute, too.